Captains Courageous (1937)

Regisseur:

Victor Fleming

Drehbuchautoren:

Rudyard Kipling (novel)
John Lee Mahin (screenplay) ...

Premierendatum:

25. Juni 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Abenteuer | Drama | Familienfilm

Werbezeile:

The Most Exciting Picture Since "Mutiny On The Bounty"

Plot:

Harvey Cheyne is a spoiled brat used to having his own way. When a prank goes wrong onboard an ocean liner Harvey ends up overboard and nearly drowns...

Plot Keywords:

Sea Rescue | Boat Accident | Fishing | Spoiled Child | Sailing

Filmpreise:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

Guaranteed to reduce you to sobbing wreck

Besetzung

Freddie Bartholomew	...	Harvey Cheyne
Spencer Tracy	...	Manuel Fidello
Lionel Barrymore	...	Captain Disko Troop
Melvyn Douglas	...	Frank Burton Cheyne
Charley Grapewin	...	Uncle Salters
Mickey Rooney	...	Dan Troop
John Carradine	...	Long Jack
Oscar O'Shea	...	Captain Walt Cushman
Jack La Rue	...	Priest (as Jack LaRue)
Walter Kingsford	...	Dr. Finley
Donald Briggs	...	Bob Tyler
Sam McDaniel	...	'Doc' (as Sam McDaniels)
Bill Burrud	...	Charles Jamison (as Billy Burrud)

Alternativ:

Rudyard Kipling's Captains Courageous (USA) (complete title)
Manuel (Deutschland) [de]
Seeteufel (Österreich) [de]

Länge:

115 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch | Portugiesische

Farbe:

Schwarzweiss

Seitenverhältnis:

1.37 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Altersfreigabe:

USA:Approved (certificate #2051) | New Zealand:G | Norway:A (1937) | UK:U | USA:TV-G | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Australia:G | Finland:S

Drehorte:

Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA

Firma:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Dies und das:

When Spencer Tracy received his Oscar statuette for this movie, he was surprised to find it inscribed to comic-strip hero "Dick Tracy". An embarrassed Academy replaced the statuette.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: Harvey hits Manuel twice on the left shin with an oar. Just a bit later, Manuel boasts to the crew about forcing him to work, saying that Harvey would do anything for him. "Maybe he break my leg, too". Manuel holds up his right (the wrong) leg and rubs it.

Dialogzitate:

Harvey: I bet I know a lot of things you don't know. I know that's not French you're singing.
Manuel Fidello: That's right. About ten million people know it's Portugese.
Harvey: I bet you can't speak French.
Manuel Fidello: Right now, I sorry I speak *English*.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Wird parodiert in Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938)

Guaranteed to reduce you to sobbing wreck

I dare anyone to sit through this film with dry eyes! Especially people of the male persuasion. There is simply no way it can be done.

Young teen Freddie Bartholomew is a snotty, spoilt brat, and on a cruise with his dad he falls overboard and is rescued by Portuguese fisherman Spencer Tracy who takes him to Captain Lionel Barrymore's commercial fishing ship. They can't afford to go give up their fishing to take the arrogant kid back to land, and so Freddie is forced to spend three months with the crew, gradually mellowing into a nice boy and evolving into a rugged, no-nonsense kid who dotes on Tracy's rough and ready Manuel.

Victor Fleming was never the most subtle of directors, and this adaptation of Kipling's story does not thrive on its wealth of detail or the ambiguity of emotion, but its sweep is epic and its heart so real that you feel you have been on a roller-coaster-ride. I loved the reels of the men fishing and preparing the fish, it had a nice documentary feel to it, akin to the silent 'Down to the Sea in Ships' that 'Captains Courageous' resembles a lot at times. The cinematography is beautiful, the mist and fog captured with finesse.

But this film is all about acting. Spencer Tracy got an Oscar for his acting as Manuel, cast against type. And although his performance verges on the sentimental, it never actually tips over. But the film belongs to Freddie Bartholomew who surely must have been tempted to overboard with emotion, but, miraculously, never does. This boy was an astute and intuitive actor, and he never sets a foot wrong. Mickey Rooney shines in an itsy bitsy part as the captain's son. He never tries to steal any scenes from Bartholomew (as one suspects he might, and could!), but concentrates on a brisk, matter-of-fact performance of this young pro of the sea, every movement he makes seems exactly right, again almost documentary-like.

Watch this film if you get the chance. They don't come much better, and yes, it will make you bawl and sob. Be warned.